By Alander Rocha, Georgia Recorder
A revamped medical cannabis law took effect in Georgia on Wednesday, easing restrictions that patients and doctors said had limited access and interest in the state's program.
The bipartisan "Putting Georgia's Patients First Act," passed during the 2026 legislative session, renames the system launched in 2015 as a "low THC oil" program to simply "medical cannabis."
Gary Long, CEO of Botanical Sciences, a Georgia-based grower, processor and retailer with five dispensaries and a sixth opening in Augusta this summer, said the overhaul "modernizes the state's program and brings it in line with other states." Enrollment, at nearly 36,600 patients as of Tuesday, could triple by mid-2027, he predicted.
"We've been in that 'low THC oil' place, and it has limited the interest of the people that are out there," Long said, adding that the old system restricted both potency and the delivery methods patients wanted.
The law drops the previous 5 percent THC cap for a milligram-based system, allowing purchases of up to 12,000 milligrams at a time. Patients over 21 may now buy oil and dry-herb vaporization products, though smoking remains illegal. Lupus and irritable bowel disease are added as qualifying conditions, and the requirement that cancer and AIDS be "severe or end stage" is removed.
Following April's federal rescheduling of medical cannabis, which allowed independent pharmacies to sell such products, the new law also permits pharmacies near schools or houses of worship to join the program, and shortens the distance requirement for dispensaries to match rules governing alcohol retailers.
Dr. Tiffanni Forbes, an internal medicine physician and certified cannabis doctor in Fayetteville, said replacing percentage-based THC labeling with milligrams should cut down on patient confusion. "People got very confused about what to take, how to take it, is this potent, is this not so potent, so we're doing away with all of that," she said, noting the shift to milligram dosing avoids meaningless percentage figures.
Yolanda Bennett, a patient and co-head of the Georgia Medical Cannabis Society, said future advocacy will target insurance coverage, protections for patients in public housing, and lifting restrictions on consuming cannabis outside the home, calling the new law a start rather than a finish line.
Steph Sherer, founder and president of Americans for Safe Access, said the rescheduling strengthens patients' legal standing under the Americans with Disabilities Act and other civil rights laws, and predicted growing advocacy nationwide for equal access.